Stranded In Avalar
by NoelleElleon
Summary: When Noelle wakes up in the mysterious world of Avalar she unintentionally meets Hunter and gets dragged into an age old war! In order to end it she must fight against the Rhynocs alongside Spyro and friends. Will she ever get back home?


I rubbed my eyes; wiping off dust that had weaved its way in there. I tried opening them, my sight was blurry and strained. I worked my way onto my feet; my knees felt fatigued. They held me but only barely. When my eyes had recovered I took a look around, trying to take in as much as I could while looking around for any threat. As far as I could tell, I was inside a cave of some sort. The rocky walls jagged inwards, fungus was growing at the bottom where moisture was collecting and escaping through small cracks. My stomach started to rumble at the sight of some kind of food. I forced myself not to lunge at the mushrooms, in case it was poisonous. _When was the last time I'd eaten? _Little droplets of water fell onto my shoulder; my natural instinct was to shiver. I realised how damp it was in here. My arms were exposed to more attacks from the drops; I wished that I were wearing a jumper. The light flooded in through the opening of the cavern, along with it came a calming breeze. The scent of something burning wafted along targeting my nostrils. I immediately thought of a BBQ, oh how I longed for something delicious like sizzling sausages or roasted chicken.

The entrance to the cave dropped off towards the sea, there was no way that I could walk to the surface. The entire cave was surrounded by the ravaging waves; if I dared to jump I would fall a good thirty metres. The rocks lodged into the walls around the sides of the entrance, looked stable enough to climb. I doubted my skill and strength for a second then decided to try my luck. I had to force my already fatigued body to push on. I reached out to one of the stable looking boulders; the sunlight pleasantly treated my cold skin, momentarily I felt like a lizard sunbaking in the welcoming heat of the sun. I tested if it wobbled, then pulled most of my weight onto it, my other hand reached for another rock as my feet held me up on the slight ledge. Up and up I climbed, green overgrowing grass was starting to seep through the cracks in the wall. The end of the climb was nearly over; I reached onto a small rock, hoping it would be strong enough. My risk was foolish; the rock gave in and broke off from its friends the moment my hand wrapped around its rough texture. I lost precious balance and plummeted further and further down, getting closer to the crashing sea below. I felt a churning in my stomach, a mix between fear, adrenaline and hunger. I tried to turn my body around so that I could dive safely into the sea, or at least try to. No matter how hard I tried to turn to face the sea, the wind rushing past me prevented me from getting into the position I wanted.

The cold salty water hit my back hard, I gasped in pain as I hit something sharp under the water. Precious oxygen escaped from my mouth in the form of bubbles, my back refused to let my limbs move, a surge of panic shot from my brain straight to my toes. As I felt blood return to my arms I flailed them around, attempting to ascend to the surface. My back stung too much, as I sunk back down I saw clouds of blurry blood float in the water. My lungs started to tighten, my throat felt dry and constricted. My strength started to fade; I could feel myself going blank all over. I saw a flash of colour in front of me; I was too dazed to see what it was. _Probably a shark…. I can't…not here… not now. _I thought to myself, refusing to let myself fall victim to this foreign world. I still had enough consciousness to feel the touch of two things clasping onto my hips, I let out more air and then blacked out.

The next thing that I could remember happening, was someone pumping my chest, trying to get water out of me. A furry mouth closed in on mine and breathed air into my throat. The touch of the hair made me shiver, and with that I regained consciousness and coughed up water and air. The murmur of voices didn't quite make sense to me, my eyes eventually cleared up and the figure in front of me became clear. A fully grown cheetah – who was staring straight at me – was kneeling on his two back legs. I gasped and squirmed backwards, my mouth opened, I tried helplessly to let out a call for help, but fear clogged up my vocal chords. The cheetah got up from his position and held out his paws to me. It kind of looked like he was trying to calm me down. He opened his mouth and I watched his fangs very closely as he made sounds that sounded scarily similar to words. It was only after a good thirty seconds that I'd realised that they were in fact words. My brain still refused to accept the possibility of an event like this.

"Hey, hey hold on," The cheetah urged, "I'm not going to hurt you ok? I _was _the one who saved your life after all." I stopped wriggling backwards, I pondered what had happened before this madness. It came flooding back in a terrifying flash; falling off the cliff, hitting something hard in the water, losing all strength to get back up to the surface, swallowing what seemed like gallons of water, and then finally, something clasping around my hips. _That was it! It must have been the cheetah! _I figured out. If he'd been the one who'd dragged me out of the water and saved my life like he said, then I owed him a lot more than just a thank you. I sat still, eyeing the cheetah, preparing myself in case he made any sudden moves. His eyes eased and he went back to his kneeling position.

I opened my mouth, and this time I could actually spit words out. "I get it now."

"Yeah, see, I'm not going to hurt you." He gave out a caring, animal smile.

"Of course not, because I died back in the sea. I drowned and this is a dream from the afterlife." I declared, it was the only reasonable explanation. His smile turned to a frown. I saw the disappointment in his soft green eyes.

"No, this is reality." He reached out his paw to me, "Go on, touch it. I won't bite." Accepting that this was a dream and that I would feel nothing, I touched it. His golden fur was warm against my cold skin, I clasped onto his paw, and he did the same with my hand. "You see?"

Panic shot straight through me, making my arms tingle. I tried pinching myself. I felt the pain but I didn't wake up from any kind of faze. "This can't be real!" I shouted, "You're an anthropomorphic cheetah! That's not possible!" My words turned into a panicked yell.

"An anthropomo-what?" The cheetah stared at me, puzzled. His expression changed immediately, I saw the shock in his eyes. He suddenly pulled out the bow that he had strapped around his chest; he reached above his head into a cylinder-shaped quiver and pulled out an arrow. He loaded the handcrafted bow and pointed it straight at me. I flung my arms over my head and I flopped to the ground as quickly as I could. I heard the arrow fly off; the thing it hit gave a terrifying grunt, then thumped down dead. I let down my defence and glanced at the creature that lay dead behind me. It was a short rhino-like thing that was about half a metre tall. It had one large horn on its nose, and stubby arms and legs. Its skin was purple in colour; everything in this world was strange. I stared at it for a few seconds, then back to the animal. He looked worried but he kept his composure. The cheetah grabbed me and chucked me onto his back, I sat next to his quiver. He started to run on his hind legs, like a person would. The arrows knocked my face every now and then. "It's not safe here; I need to get you inside the city walls."

As he ran we passed through a forest; the roots and shrubs had overgrown everywhere, eerie sounds from the shadows drifted along with the sound of his paws trampling on moist grass. We ran into a clearing where about twelve of the rhino-things surrounded us. The cheetah took out his bow as I handed him arrows. He shot arrows at them, some missed and some hit, the cheetah took a run up to one of the creatures, I held on tightly to his back, fearing I would fall off. The cheetah jumped straight onto the rhino and knocked him over, then finished him with a clear arrow shot. One of the rhinos threw a small shield at us; the cheetah was to slow to notice it and got hit straight against the mouth. The blow knocked us both over; the force of being flung off and hitting the hard, root infested ground was painful enough, but to top it off, the cheetah unintentionally rolled over me, injuring my leg in the process. _That was one hell of a throw. _I recovered quickly from the battering I had taken, as I stood, more rhinos started to gather, they were all ready to strike. The cheetah had a large gash across his chin, he was still pushing himself off the ground, struggling and obviously in pain. I grabbed one of the arrows that were now spread across the floor; I held it out like a sword, at that moment I had no idea what I was trying to do, or _why_. I charged at one of the beasts and swung the arrow around like it was a baseball bat. The rhino easily dodged and grabbed hold of the arrow; he tried to yank it out of my hands. It was at that moment that I lost all self-control and ran the arrow forward against his strength, into his bare chest. Blood started to stream down its body from the wound. I pulled it out of the rhino and jumped back, ready to defend against their attack the best I could. The cheetah regained strength and joined me. He nodded a thank you to me and then grabbed his bow and used it like a sword. He flung it at the rhinos, smacking them left and right. I tried my best to hold my own but I wasn't exactly born for fighting with a single arrow. More rhinos appeared from the trees. The cheetah told me to follow him; he started to run forward through a gap in the enemies' formation. I ran as best I could but my legs were still weak from my little accident in the sea. I was significantly slower than my rescuer. He noticed and came back for me, grabbing me under his arm and sprinting off just like that. Once we had reached somewhere peaceful we took a temporary break.

I sat on a mossy rock, watching the cheetah as he examined his wound. It was dripping little droplets of scarlet coloured blood everywhere. He undid a compartment that was separate to the main entrance of the quiver; the compartment was located on the bottom and was about four centimetres in height. The cheetah pulled out a cloth from the pouch. He ripped it to the appropriate size and tied it around his jaw. I couldn't help but watch. I wanted to ask him what was going on, but my words stayed dry in my throat. I was still afraid of this place, the creatures in it, even this animal that'd saved me. It was him who broke the silence. "Are you ok? Hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm ok." I replied avoiding eye contact. "What were those things? And why were they after us?"

"Those were Rhynocs. They've pledged a war against the kingdom. Any creature from the kingdom lurking around outside its walls they'll prey upon. I'm from the kingdom, and that's why they were after us."

"Then why _were_ you outside if you knew that they'd hunt you?"

"It's a thing called freedom. We don't get much of it inside the kingdom. Most of the things we see are just market stalls and stone floors surrounded by sky high stone walls. It's really boring, don't get to see much. That's why I like to get out to the fresh grassy plains of Autumn Plains." I looked at his chin; the bandage had already soaked up plenty of blood. "When I found you, I was playing with my pet manta-ray, you know, giving him some exercise and checking up on him." The cheetah paused for a moment while gathering his thoughts. "Where did you come from?" He sceptically examined me; it was like he'd never seen a human before. "Cause from the looks of things, I'm guessing you're not from around here."

"To be honest, I have no idea. When I fell into the sea I was trying to climb up the cliff because I woke up in a cave just above the water."

"Oh." He seemed disappointed in the answer I gave, "Well, I'm Hunter by the way." He introduced.

"Noelle." I replied.

"Well then, Noelle, let's get you inside the city."

The moment I'd walked through the giant iron gates I felt a mix between relief and fear. I heard the giant clunk they made as they shut behind us. My eyes flickered rapidly around the city. Hunter wasn't kidding; it was very bland and limited. Market stalls were set up here and there spread around the kingdom; they were small parts of colour that prevented the city from being completely bland. From a distance I could only just make out what they sold. In corners along the stone walls there were some small doodad stalls, more in the centre there were stalls that sold food, and other stalls that sold weapons and armour were congregated next to each other where there was free space. In the centre of the giant citadel was an enormous castle. The castle had red flags hanging on each side, they were held up by chains that were strongly implanted into the structure. On the flags it said: _Kingdom of Avalar._ Above those words there was a picture of a purple dragon sewn on. I guessed it was some kind of mascot.

As I took a few steps further into this foreign place I got some stares and weird looks from the locals. The entire population were either anthropomorphic creatures, like dogs who claimed to be chef; or they were strange creatures that had mixed bodies, like small totem poles that also had human characteristics. I suddenly got a feeling deep down that made me even more unsure and afraid than I already was. This place was crazy, weird and downright scary. Hunter gave me a reassuring look before we started to walk further into the city. Every step felt like a challenge, it was almost like they didn't want me to go on. My stomach growled fiercely. I held my hands over it to shield myself from the embarrassment. Over the racket of the crowd Hunter still managed to pick up on my stomach's call. He chuckled and led me over to one of the food stalls. On hooks in the back were slabs of fresh pink meat. Apples, pears, oranges and other assorted fruits were in boxes on shelves along the floor. The main table at the front of the stall held many kinds of bread, some had grains through it, others looked plain and some even had _green _stripes through them. I looked at Hunter questioning the strange green bread. "Spinach mixed with sweet grass, mixed nuts and cheese. Sounds gross but it's actually really good." _I doubted that. "_Kingdom specialty." He added and grinned. I moved on and continued scanning over the rest of the loaves. They radiated with heat and the delicious smell of freshly cooked bread. My mouth watered the longer I looked over them. "What would you like?" The cheetah started to pull out a money pouch from the bottom of his quiver, its purple base was embroidered with golden strings that made up a thick letter M in the centre. It sagged with the weight of all the coins it held.

"I'm fine with anything." I shrugged, I didn't want to make him buy me anything but I was famished. My stomach felt like a giant hole that hadn't been filled for decades. The growls returned.

"How about I get you a loaf of the Prisser?" I looked at him utterly confused. I cocked my head slightly to the side to show my blankness. "The green bread, trust me it's really good." I agreed to try it despite my opinion that flashed inside my head. When the dog with an Egyptian headpiece handed over the loaf to Hunter, who seemed tower over me, he shot me a glance and then asked Hunter if I was with him. From the tone of the dog's voice I could tell he was on edge about having me around. It made me feel alone because I knew that I wasn't going to find any of my own kind around here. I held the loaf in my hands after retrieving it from my saviour, it wasn't too big, an edible potion. After five reluctant seconds, I finally took a bite of the 'Prisser,' at first my mouth fired up with the sudden burst of the combination, and then it got used to it and my taste buds declared it extraordinary. The soft, warm bread melted in my mouth, it was so good I almost refused to swallow it, to savour this moment. I smiled at Hunter who clearly saw that I was enjoying it. "Told you." He snickered.

After picking up the food Hunter insisted that he introduce me to his friend. We entered the castle in the centre of the citadel; it was just as big inside as it was outside. There wasn't any red carpet welcoming us, it was just the bare stone ground. So much for my fantasy of magical castles and royalty. What greeted us was a long, dimly lit, corridor with paintings of previous wars heros, honoured creatures and other various works of art. The corridors lead out into a huge open space with two circular portals cemented onto the ground. As we entered the open room, names of the places the portals led to, appeared in glowing letters above them_. _'Winter Tundra' and 'Summer Forrest._'_ I assumed that they were either other kingdoms or other regions of the kingdom. I walked cautiously over to them while examining them head to toe; they were the width and shape of a well, in the centre it had bricks that slowly dipped inwards in the middle, the whole thing was a whitish-yellowish colour. Coloured sparks played and went wild above the indent. Hunter watched over me, warning me not to get too close. Once I was done he motioned me over to a stairwell; I stared at my feet as I placed one in front of the other. The sounds of my clattering shoes against his padding paws seemed odd, I was an outcast. At the bottom there was one room, we opened the creaky wooden slab door and stepped through into what seemed to be a dungeon. The lighting was much better in here, the smell was musky and there were no spider webs no matter how old the place looked. A big bear lay across the floor making the perfect rug for the room, the fireplace was already burning and was surrounded by gleaming grey stone. "Hey, Spyro! I have someone I'd like you to meet." Hunter shouted through the dungeon.

My heart sped up and gave me a nervous sensation in my stomach as distant footsteps started to get louder. The thing that appeared before me shocked the last of my breath out of me. I almost fainted as our eyes met. "Who's this?" He asked, I couldn't stop myself from staring and observing _all_ his features. The curves, the bumps and jagged lines throughout his scales.

"This is Noelle; I found her drowning just off the cove in Dragon Shores." Hunter explained. His friend, Spyro, was a small purple dragon with a beige coloured chest and belly. He was only about half Hunter's height, and a third of mine. His wings were delicately formed; they had sturdy yellow rims with a flexible, but tough, red leather as the webs in-between and sharp glistening talons on the points of his wings. Two yellow horns covered most of his purple head along with a spikey Mohawk of yellow scales that finished at the top of his neck. His bubbly purple eyes studied me all over - like the rest of the population here – the dragon couldn't understand what I was. The eye contact between us got tense; I looked away, snapping my attention to the little gold dragonfly hovering above him. It was the size of my hand, much bigger than the normal insect, but then again this wasn't the normal world. It had two antennas on its head and its wings beat too fast to see. The dragonfly smiled and waved at me, buzzing something that I couldn't understand. When Spyro was satisfied with just looking he came up and lent me his paw. I grabbed it and shook it as he did the same, his white claws touched my quivering skin, they were sharp, and brought a shiver to my spine as I felt the cold on them.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Spyro, and my friend above me is Sparx," Spyro started, "I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you are." My brain lay still, it was working overtime, it still refused to comprehend the fact that I'd just met and touched a dragon. I tried to form words, my lips parted and all I could manage to make was a restless moan. I mentally hit myself. _Way to go! You just made an idiot of yourself in front of a dragon!_ Both Hunter and Spyro just looked at me. I felt my cheeks flare up. An awkward silence followed, until the purple dragon broke the silence: "What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen a dragon before?" I shook my head; if I couldn't manage words I wouldn't let myself make any more embarrassing noises. "Haha, it's ok I remember having the same effect on almost everyone in this kingdom when I first arrived." Spyro sympathised, he lead me into the room he'd just come out of. Inside there was a map pinned on the left wall and photo frames placed on a table to the far end of the room. There was a double bed with royal red sheets messily lain on top. Four brightly burning torches gave the room light and gave off the somewhat appealing scent of smoke.

The three of us sat down on leather armchairs, Spyro explained he and Sparx's past, filling me in on details that I had missed. According to his story, he and Sparx were from the other half of the world and that he had once come down to the part of the globe to take a holiday but circumstances changed and they got dragged into the war. "I don't mind defending this place, it's a second home to me now and I feel that it is my responsibility to protect it. Although I wouldn't mind taking a holiday and getting away from it all, but then again this is life, and there's no holiday from the everyday conflicts." His words made me think of my own home, wherever it was now, if it was still on the plane of existence.


End file.
